Intellectual Property Rights and Green Technologies from Rio to Rio
An Impossible Dialogue?
by Ahmed Abdel Latif
Policy Brief 14
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Intellectual Property Rights and Green Technologies from Rio to Rio: an Impossible Dialogue? 2.59 MBThough technology transfer and innovation feature in the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit, intellectual property rights (IPRs) - which are closely related to them - are barely mentioned. In contrast, Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, included several provisions on IPRs. So why were countries not able to find any common grounds on the role of IPRs in relation to green technologies at Rio+20 as they sought to identify a path for accelerating sustainable development in the years ahead?
This policy brief seeks to answer this question by examining the evolution of the global debate on IPRs and green technologies from the Earth Summit in 1992 to Rio+20. It then makes some suggestions about how to foster a more constructive dialogue on this issue.
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THE PAPER TRACES THE EVOLUTION OF NEGOTIATIONS ON THIS CONTENTIOUS ISSUE EFFECTIVELY. A KEY MESSAGE IS THAT THE FOCUS ON AMENDING TRIPS IS MISPLACED.
MORE EFFORT SHOULD BE GIVEN BY ALL STATES TO CLARIFYING THE RELEVANT PROVISIONS IN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT ON INNOVATION AND RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DIFFUSION AND TRANSFER OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL IMPACT ON GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.